BIG BOYS TO GAIN EXTRA SPOT

LIVERPOOL could qualify for the Champions League ahead of Everton – even if they finish outside the top four.

That is the warning from one of European football’s leading voices about the new-look Champions League reforms, which are set to be agreed within the next fortnight and brought in by 2024.

Big clubs could soon get a passport into Europe’s top club competition based on their previous success and coefficient as one of four extra places on offer in the 36-team format.

It means as long as Liverpool finished in a European (UCC) place they could get entry as the sixth-best-placed team in the Premier League ahead of Everton if they finished fifth.

It is a major sticking point that clubs and leagues still want to change in the reform proposals, with the Premier League and several clubs looking to force the issue and get guarantees over what would effectively be a safety net for more established teams.

Jacco Swart, managing director of European Leagues, said: “If you look at the ranking for the Premier League where Liverpool and Spurs are below position five.

“For instance, Everton are above them but not in the top four within the ranking.

“It could be the case that if this was the result at the end of the season, then it could result in Liverpool, being number six and not Everton being number five, would go to the Champions League.

“But it is conditionally, at least in the UEFA proposal, that you are in a UCC spot.”